Electron Backupz USB LED lights

These little Backupz LEDs are brilliant if you are riding through town after the sun has disappeared. They are tiny, each the size of a key fob so you can easily stuff them safe in your pocket when you are nipping in to the to the pub for a refreshment break on your way back from work while your steed is locked up outside.

They also couldn't be easier to attach to your bike, simply wrap the elastic around a tube (handlebars or seatpost) and clip it into a hook! I did have reservations at first about the fragility of the plastic hook on the rear light but it is still there doing its job after a month of testing. What is more to the point is that they knock out a fair amount of light, ok not enough to guide your way on an unlit road but do a good job of showing other road users that you are there so they are perfect for the urban cyclist or when riding in the half light or groggy weather.

The front light houses 2 ultra bright LEDs whilst the rear has 4 bright red LEDs crammed into its little shell with two of them pointing out at a 45 degree angle offering a good spread of light. Their transparent plastic cases allow the whole unit to glow and further increase the viewing angle of these light units. To conserve battery consumption and increase the run time from a not too shabby 5.5 hours steady light you can choose a flashing mode on both front and rear and an extra twinkley chase mode for the rear effectively doubling or quadroupling the the time before they go flat. Using them for an hour every evening they still had some juice in them after 2 weeks on the flash mode which is great.

Now, here is why they are clever little things; When they have only an hour or so left of flashing power in the battery a little red warning light starts blinking which is visible through the transparent casing. This is your signal to plug them in to your computer using the USB cable supplied (it come with a splitter so you can charge both lights from one computer USB port) and in three hours time they will be fully charged again.

The little red indicator light goes still whilst charging then green to tell you that you are fully charged and ready to go. There is even a built in anti-overcharging circuit to stop them frazzelling so you can leave them plugged in over night if needs be without the risk of setting your desk on fire, well, less risk anyway. Annoyingly, after a month of daily/nightly use, the warning light is permanently blinking telling me to charge the rear unit but when I plug it in the green light shows meaning it is fully charged. Ho, hum.

The transparent plastic shells look like they might be fragile and brittle but have remained un-tarnished and my other worry of them filling up with water through the usb charging port hasn't happened either… and they have been through a machine wash on 40 degrees without harm. Apart from the flickery charging light constantly telling me to charge the rear light (maybe that's down to delayed shock after the washing machine incident) these are cracking little lights which are comparable in price to knog equivalents but with the added feature of being rechargeable.

Verdict

Great keyring sized urban commute lights to help you be seen in town and that can be charged up from your computer whilst you are checking your favourite website (road.cc).